


In the End/At the Beginning

by tieria



Series: Ferriswheelshipping Week [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: F/M, ferriswheelshipping week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4473116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tieria/pseuds/tieria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Common logic dictates that if there is a first, then there must naturally be a last-<br/>But the thing is, Touko doesn’t want there to be a last battle.<br/>:::<br/>The final battle, its aftermath, and an ending that's not really an ending at all.<br/>Prompt: Final Battle</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the End/At the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone likes to listen to music while they read, I'd recommend listening to the final battle versus N music for the battle scenes, then switch over to Emotion for the very last scene.

Common logic dictates that if there is a first, then there must naturally be a last-

But the thing is, Touko doesn’t _want_ there to be a last battle.

She’s gotten used to this half-formed dance, catching each other’s eye from the edge of the floor but never making the move to cross it, circling closer and closer but never quite _touching_ -

But the hands of time are relentless, and with each taunting sweep around clock face the hour in which they’ll clash for the last time draws closer and closer, _tick tock, tick tock_.

:::

When their hands meet for the final dance, it’s accompanied by Touko’s racing pulse and the electric hum of a black dragon at her side. They face down N and his white dragon, the pair of them regal and fierce; but Touko isn’t so unsure of herself or of her team that she’d falter now, not with the stakes so high. With no more than a quick glance, a meeting of eyes, Zekrom and Touko exchange a conversation-a final confirmation passing between them. Touko grips at the rim of her hat as Zekrom flaps its wings, darts into the air with surprising grace, an answering heavy _flap_ on the other side of the hall where Reshiram alights, soars to meet Zekrom.

The twin dragons match blows at the speed of Touko’s beating heart, a quick one-two rhythm that steals her breath away. A cold nervous energy rises to fill its void with every tick of the second hand, sending a chill down her spine even as a stray torrent of fire descends upon a pillar not ten feet to her left.

She vaguely hears someone yell in alarm, but it’s muffled, everything but the raging dragons in front of her fading into the background.

Touko takes a long breath inward, air tainted with the acrid smell of scorched stone, and exhilaration rises within her, banishing her nervousness to the tips of her trembling fingers as she throws her hand out, yells a command to Zekrom above.

Out of the corner of her eye she catches N do the same, but she can’t hear what he calls over the race of her pulse in her ears, that frantic _one-two one-two_ and the crackle of electricity, the hiss of flame up above.

There’s a flash of light, an electric current running through the air that sets the hair on Touko’s arms standing on edge, and Touko ducks her head behind her arms to shield her eyes from the brilliance of the collision.

The dragons crash to the ground with a mighty impact that nearly knocks Touko off her feet, black and white twined together in fainted heap.

  _‘The battle,’_ they thought, _‘has only begun.’_

:::

Everything, everything, _everything_ has been building to this battle. Touko wants to be Champion, to prove her strength, to prove she and her team have _accomplished_ something in their time together-

But more than anything else, Touko yearns to know that she’s right, that people and Pokémon can reach that state, that ideal coexistence that every trainer’s striving for-

(Or at least she is. Her ideal is not quite the same as N’s ideal and N’s truth is her nightmare, but all that really matters is that _they_ still believe in their own dreams, because no one else is going to believe for them-)

:::

They’re both down to their last Pokémon, and Touko’s heart threatens to beat its way out of her chest, break straight through her ribs even as she tries to slow her breathing- _three, two, one, in; one, two, three, out._

The Pokemon out in front of her looks like a Klinklang, but Touko couldn’t be any more certain that it’s not. If there’s one thing she’s noticed about N after all this time, it’s that he might be the type to love each and every Pokémon that crosses his path as a human seeking to liberate Pokémon, but he’s always put too much thought into his teams as a trainer to ever include two of the same species.

 Touko reaches into her bag, sheer focus helping her steady her hand as her fingers curl around the smooth surface of her last Pokeball.

“Serperior! Lend me your strength!”

He appears before her with a burst of light and a battle cry, echoing loud in the spacious hall. Touko lifts her eyes from Serperior to give N a challenging glare, doesn’t miss the way that his lips quirk into the tiniest of smirks when she does.

If it’s a trap, she doesn’t have time to wonder if she’s fallen into it.

“Serperior! Leaf Blade!”

Dashing forwards, Serperior rears his head and slams the sharp edges of his tail into the side of the Klinklang’s gears, only for them to shimmer and shift under his assault, smooth greys replaced by black arms held up to guard.

Zoroark gives an impish grin, all teeth and mischief, and a great torrent of flames bursts from its mouth as it leaps backwards, catching Serperior’s tail and lower body in the process. For the briefest of seconds, time slows to a crawl as Touko watches Serperior wilt in slow motion, watches him fall to the ground and hit hard- she’d never let him near a fire attack at that close of a range before- silence, the world stops.

A beat.

Touko cries out, and Serperior pulls himself up with a wild cry. He glances back at Touko, nods his head, and turns back to the fight without a second thought. She sends him silent thanks, tries not to let her worry overtake her gratitude.

“Serperior! Giga Drain!”

“Zoroark, Flamethrower!”

It’s closer than Touko would like- Serperior darts forward, getting through the Zoroark’s guard to leech its energy , but not able to escape fast enough to avoid the flames entirely, and both Pokémon are forced back to their respective sides of the field to catch their breath.

“Is the world going to choose you, and not me?!” There’s panic seeping into N’s voice, a frantic disbelief and the firm conviction that their fate hasn’t yet been decided shining out from underneath it all.

“That’s up for out Pokémon to decide!” Touko yells back, trying and failing to keep the wavering edge of desperation out of her voice. She exchanges a long, reassuring glance with Serperior, takes a deep breath, and steels herself for the end. “Serperior, use Leaf Blade!” 

“Zoroark, Night Slash!”

The two Pokémon collide, Zoroark’s claws and the blade of Serperior’s tail, and the moment they spend struggling for the upper hand stretches into eternity, like watching the string of fate fraying thread by thread as they pull it in opposite directions.

Touko holds her breath and throws all her energy into supporting Serperior. She doesn’t doubt that N is doing the same with Zoroark opposite them, and the thought makes her smile in just the slightest, put that much more effort into cheering Serperior on.

The final thread snaps.

Eternity releases its hold and the hands of time tick on, and Zoroark falls to the ground, exhausted.

As their last battle and their first dance draws to a close, Touko exhales, the rush of relief practically tangible in the taste of the air.

(After that, the battle against Ghestis and his twisted dreams is almost easy.)

:::

Touko can’t help but feel that something’s ending. N is talking to her- and she’s listening, she is- but she can’t help but feel that it can’t all end here, that this can’t be the end of their story together. They’ve learned too much because of each other, come so far since their first encounter with their Pokémon…

“Touko! You said you have a dream…”

She does.

“That dream… Make it come true!”

She will.

“Wonderful dreams and ideals give you the power to change the world! If anyone can, it’s you! Touko!”

She has a dream, and she has yet to technically accomplish it. Her bonds with her Pokémon have carried her farther than she ever could have dreamed, and she’s entirely sure they can defeat the League once more. If she sets her mind to it, she’s sure even completing the Pokédex is within her grasp.

“Well, then… Farewell!”

She doesn’t need N there for any of it. She doesn’t need him there, like she doesn’t _need_ her bonds with Bianca or Cheren or even her Pokémon…

“Wait!” she calls to N’s turned back, and stumbles forward, catches him gently on the shoulder. “Wait.”

“Touko?” he asks, turning to face her.

It’s like she’s suddenly lost her words- everything that races through her mind isn’t elegant enough, isn’t the right tone, isn’t what she wants to convey to him- so she tilts her head up, closes the distance between them, and kisses him gently instead.

It’s nothing special, nothing more than a momentary press of lips against lips.

(And she’ll never forget it. Not as she draws back, not as she turns back to join the others, not after she’s standing here again, Champion, staring out at the open sky-)

_“Don’t go,”_ it makes her want to say as she drops her hand from his shoulder.

“Goodbye,” she says instead, “Let’s meet again soon, okay?”

He smiles at her, and it’s so genuine she almost wants to reach out and stop him again, see how many more times she can coax that smile out of him.

“Let’s meet again soon.”

It’s an ending, but not in the traditional sense- it’s not the end of the story, just the end of the chapter. They might not meet again in the next, or the one after that, or even the one after that- but there’s still a whole novel’s worth of pages to fill and a new adventure to be had on each and every one of them.

‘ _So it’s not the end, but it’s not the beginning either_ ,’ Touko thinks as Reshiram and N disappear into the distance, Reshiram’s flowing white form no longer discernable from the masses of fluffy clouds dappling the sky.

She doesn’t _need_ her bonds, she thinks. She could break them all off, start anew, prove herself on her strength and her strength alone- but that’s just too lonely, and unfair to all those she’d leave behind.

So she’ll give N time. Enough time to find his own truth, his new beliefs…

_‘And then,’_ she thinks, turning her back on the open sky and adjusting her hat, stretching her tired limbs energetically, _‘I’m going to go find him and see how many more times I can get him to smile like that_.”

**Author's Note:**

> You have no idea how much fourteen year old me wanted that last scene to happen playing Pokemon Black for the first time. Anyway, that's the last day for me. Hope everyone has a good ferriswheelshipping week!


End file.
